The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) is a crucial
opportunity to renew political commitment to sustainable development, and to set the
agenda for the next twenty years.

This opportunity comes at a time when human activity is pushing ecosystems
towards the limits of what they can sustainably bear - against what some scientists
have called ?planetary boundaries? in areas such as climate change, biodiversity
loss, stratospheric ozone depletion, chemical pollution, ocean acidification, and
depletion of fresh water reserves. At the same time, as the world attempts to improve
social and economic conditions across developed and developing countries, the
world has emerged from a Global Financial Crisis to face, yet again, the prospect of
a waning global economy.

In order to meet these challenges, Rio+20 must:
" overcome divides between developed and developing countries to support
practical initiatives to promote sustainable development that are people-
oriented and have tangible impacts on poverty eradication and protect the
environment; and

" underpin these initiatives with an effective and integrated institutional
framework that is capable of managing new and emerging challenges,
implementing existing commitments, and better enabling research, innovation
and cooperation.

Australia recognises that developing countries, especially the poorest and most
vulnerable, need assistance to achieve sustainable development. Australia will
almost double its Official Development Assistance (ODA) between 2010-11 and
2015-16, to meet the Government?s commitment of ODA reaching 0.5 per cent of
Gross National Income (GNI).

As a dry island continent, Australia shares many of the challenges and opportunities
faced by other countries. These include the loss of biodiversity and associated
ecosystem services in terrestrial and marine environments, reduced water
availability, (both of which are likely to be exacerbated by climate change) and the
need to effectively manage our mineral resources. Australia is a mega-diverse and
resource-rich country which needs to meet the challenge of protecting and managing
these endowments for a sustainable and productive future. This submission
addresses both international and domestic challenges that Australia shares with
other countries, and seeks to build on past experience and to grasp new
opportunities together.

This submission sets out Australia?s priorities for Rio+20. These cover three areas:

1. Enabling development of resilient and sustainable economies through:

3. Improving the institutional framework to support and drive sustainable
development.

?A Green Economy in the Context of Sustainable
Development and Poverty Eradication?

Australia recognises that Rio+20?s pursuit of ?a green economy, in the context of
sustainable development and poverty eradication? is a means of achieving
sustainable development. Rio+20 should promote practical actions to address
identified gaps in the implementation of commitments from previous summits, as well
as new and emerging challenges. Australia proposes the following sectoral and
cross-cutting priority areas for action at Rio+20.

?Blue Economy? and Oceans Issues

World fisheries support 170 million jobs and more than 1.5 billion people rely on
marine resources for their protein intake. Marine and coastal tourism, aquaculture
and other uses of marine environments also provide livelihoods for millions of
people.

However, the world?s oceans are increasingly under pressure from threats such as
ocean acidification, overfishing, biodiversity loss, habitat loss and pollution. Key
ecosystems such as coral reefs may soon reach critical thresholds,
disproportionately impacting on the people and communities that are most
vulnerable, such as small island and coastal developing countries. For example, the

World Resources Institute Reefs at Risk Revisited report published in 2011 notes
that approximately 75 per cent of the world?s coral reefs are currently threatened by
a combination of local threats plus thermal stress. The report states that 90 per cent
of coral reefs will be threatened by 2030 and all coral reefs threatened by 2050 if no
protective action is taken. The impact this would have on incomes, food security and
sustainable livelihoods would be potentially severe. Commitments in Agenda 21 and
the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation to address these threats have not yet
been met. Progressing sustainable ocean and marine conservation and
management to achieve a ?blue economy? is now an urgent sustainable
development priority.

Ocean ecosystem considerations need to be better integrated into economic and
social decisions with the objective of deriving economic and social benefits from the
oceans in ways that are efficient, equitable and sustainable in both the short and
long term. Within this context, economic and social development strategies should
prioritise effective marine management in order to address poverty eradication, food
security, sustainable livelihoods and conservation.

There are no ?one-size-fits all? actions that can deliver a ?blue economy?. Some
required actions are global in scale, but most are required at local, national and
regional levels. Australia considers that Rio+20 can play three key roles in promoting
a transition to a ?blue economy?. Firstly, to provide a catalyst and framework for
action; to escalate oceans issues as a priority for governments, civil society and the
private sector. Secondly, to promote and share lessons from existing blue economy-
related initiatives, such as the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and
Food Security and the Pacific Oceanscape Framework. Lastly, to identify and
progress actions that require a global scale response.

In this context Rio+20 outcomes should recognise a number of ?blue economy?
objectives. ?Blue economy? initiatives should promote the development of marine
industries which sustainably derive ecological, economic and social benefits from
marine ecosystems. They should ensure that ecosystem-based oceans
management becomes central to industry and community development decisions.

Rio+20 outcomes should build resilience and capacity to adapt to climate change
and ocean acidification by communities, industries and ecosystems; while drawing
on, and avoiding duplication of, existing efforts such as work being progressed under
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Finally,
Rio+20 outcomes should strengthen and support governance and institutions to
facilitate an integrated approach to address shared objectives and challenges.

Rio+20 outcomes should include:

" a framework for action to mobilise efforts towards a ?blue economy?, including:

o improving information about the ecological, economic and social values
of the oceans;

o building the capacity of marine managers, policy makers and scientists,
including by better linking scientific research efforts with management
and policy frameworks, through education and other means;

o strengthening existing regional integrated oceans management or
establishing new regional frameworks that link national efforts to
address shared objectives and challenges (using examples such as the
Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security
and the Pacific Oceanscape Framework);

o showcasing and promoting existing blue economy initiatives as a
means of strengthening the political momentum and donor support that
is key to their ongoing success;

o engaging communities in the development of approaches to enhance
the blue economy; and

o developing improved metrics to monitor the state of oceans, coral reefs
and other marine ecosystems;

" support for the proposed United Nations General Assembly process to ensure
the international legal framework effectively addresses the conservation and
sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction by
identifying gaps and the way forward, including through implementing existing
instruments and the possible development of a multilateral agreement under
the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS);

" strengthening and encouraging the implementation of existing measures to
combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing;

" elimination of marine capture fisheries Subsidies that contribute to over-fishing
and over-capacity while recognising the need for appropriate and effective
special and differential treatment for developing countries and least developed
countries, and a call for the conclusion of World Trade Organization (WTO)
negotiations on fisheries Subsidies; and

" commitment to optimising fisheries surveillance and enforcement asset
allocation to enhance compliance with national and international regimes,
including through promoting the wider implementation of principles contained
in recent regional agreements* with respect to:

o pooling surveillance and enforcement assets among states; and

o enhancing the use of modern remote sensing technologies.

*For example, the 2007 Agreement on Cooperative Enforcement of Fisheries Laws between
the Government of Australia and the Government of the French Republic in the Maritime
Areas Adjacent to the French Southern and Antarctic Territories, Heard Island and the
McDonald Islands.

Food Security

Food security is a central global challenge which needs to be addressed urgently.
Growing populations and changing diets are steadily increasing demand, with the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) forecasting that
global agricultural output must increase by 70 per cent from average 2005-07 levels
by 2050 to feed the expected population of 9.3 billion. Experts forecast that food
prices are likely to remain higher and more volatile than they were before 2008.

Price changes send market signals to farmers to increase or decrease production in
response to changed market conditions. However, while higher food prices
encourage increased production, continuing global agriculture and food market
distortions, land and water resource limitations, rising input costs (such as energy
and fertilisers), climate change, and increasing diversion of food crops to non-food
uses (particularly for biofuel production), have the potential to restrict the supply
response. This is compounded by high fuel prices which increase the cost of inputs,
farm production and the transport and distribution of food. Food production is also
fundamentally impacted by environmental degradation: in achieving food security it is
essential that measures to boost production and productivity are environmentally
sustainable.

The 2007-08 food price crisis highlighted systemic failures in global food markets,
including the impact of longstanding global market distortions and trade barriers,
thinly traded markets (for example for rice), and insufficient reliable market
information. In particular, decades of subsidised agricultural production in the
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries,
together with market barriers, disadvantage developing country farmers and
discourage greater agricultural investment in those countries.

At the Group of 20 (G20) Agriculture Ministerial Meeting in June 2011, Ministers
adopted an ?Action Plan on Food Price Volatility in Agriculture?. The Action Plan
focuses on increasing agricultural productivity, improving international coordination
(including the reform of the FAO) and the role of increased liberalisation of
agricultural trade in addressing food security. More recently, Heads of Government
of 53 Commonwealth nations adopted in October 2011 the Perth Declaration on

b. undertaking decisive and timely measures to prevent crises occurring,
mitigate their impact when they do and build resilience;

c. delivering practical measures over the medium-term to make agriculture,
including irrigated agriculture, and fisheries more productive and sustainable;

d. strengthening support to government-led programmes and initiatives based
on the spirit of effective partnerships;

e. development of country-led medium to long-term strategies and programmes
to improve food security and ensure alignment of donor support to
implementation of country priorities;

f. scaling up nutritional interventions, including those that target mothers and
young children, and incorporating nutrition considerations into broad food
security initiatives;

g. enhancing research and development over the longer term to build a
sustainable agriculture sector, including through the promotion and sharing of
best agricultural practices, in order to feed and nourish the people of the
world;

h. strengthening fisheries and marine resource management in member states?
waters to ensure sustainability of these resources for national and global food
security, including through addressing illegal unreported and unregulated
fishing;

i. improving international market access for food producers, including
smallholders and women, through trade liberalisation measures such as the
elimination of tariff and non-tariff trade barriers and avoidance restrictions on
food imports;

j. addressing the impediments that are inhibiting economic opportunities for
these important producers, including lack of affordable financing, local value-
added and adequate infrastructure;

k. collaboration between international organisations, donor countries, and
national governments to address production, storage, waste reduction,
elimination of post-harvest losses, transportation and marketing challenges;
this collaboration could include more effective ways of meeting infrastructure
financing gaps that engage the private sector; and

l. improving the institutional framework for global food security efforts, including
by supporting reform of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisations (FAO).

Rio+20 outcomes should commit to a program of action to boost global food security,
including:

" improved emergency food responses;

" increased funding for agricultural and rural development to sustainably boost
production and improve efficiency of market infrastructure and accessibility;

" the liberalisation of trade and the elimination of trade-distorting agricultural
Subsidies and market barriers;

" the sustainable intensification of food production in terrestrial and marine
ecosystems to achieve a significant increase in resource use efficiency and
reduce negative externalities by 2050, with a particular focus on improving
African agricultural productivity as a key potential element of the global
solution to food insecurity;

" making women a key part of all efforts aimed at enhancing food production
and productivity;

" increased support for international agricultural research, especially through
the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research;

" reform of the FAO to ensure its leadership in the United Nations (UN) in
supporting sustainable agricultural and food security initiatives; and

Improved access to safe water and sanitation is fundamental to poverty alleviation.
Compromised water security undermines key development objectives, including
efficient food production. Despite international recognition of principles for good
governance, commitment to water-related initiatives by governments has been slow,
particularly in the area of adequately pricing water services and promoting water use
efficiency.

Rio+20 outcomes should include:

" reaffirmation of the importance of improved information on water (including
related meteorological and oceanographic information), improved
governance, management and pricing of water resources, integrated and
comprehensive water planning, enhanced water use efficiency, and
recognition of the resulting increase in water and food security; and

" commitment to improving water access and water use efficiency at a national
level, particularly for food production, through:

o domestic institutional and regulatory reforms addressing water
planning, and information, and developing markets in water access
rights; and

Healthy biodiversity and resilient ecosystems underpin robust economies, human
health, poverty alleviation and sustainable livelihoods. Rio+20 recommendations on
biodiversity should reinforce previous international biodiversity commitments and
build on the work of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD),
which provides a legal framework for the conservation and sustainable use of
biodiversity, and fair and equitable access and benefit sharing of genetic resources.

Australia emphasises the importance of cultural practices and traditional
management of natural resources in biodiversity conservation. Australia supports
managing biodiversity at ecologically meaningful scales, looking at entire
landscapes, seascapes, regions and ecosystems to deal with longer-term
environmental trends, constraints and opportunities. Where landscapes, habitat or
ecosystems are fragmented, measures to enhance habitat connectivity, including
habitat corridors, should be utilised. While local problems need localised solutions,
these should still be developed in the context of the broader landscape or
ecosystem.

Rio+20 outcomes should include:

" reaffirmation of the importance of biodiversity conservation in a changing
climate, highlighting the importance of management at landscape and
seascape scale, using market-based mechanisms where appropriate,
enhancing habitat connectivity, particularly through corridors, and building
ecosystem resilience;

" recognition of the role the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform for
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services could play in progressing early
consideration of monitoring and research programs that meet policy agendas;
and

" recognition of the value of building on indigenous and community-based
approaches to conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity using local
community and indigenous ranger networks, and the opportunity for building
practical skills.

Desertification

The international community has long recognised that desertification is a major
economic, social and environmental problem of concern to many countries in all
regions of the world. Desertification continues to present a problem today which has
impacts on and is impacted by other global problems such as food security and
climate change.

Rio+20 will mark the twentieth anniversary of the international treaty created to
address desertification, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
(UNCCD). Following the 10 Conference of Parties to the UNCCD in Changwon in
October 2011, countries considered how Rio+20 might play a role in further
addressing desertification.

Rio+20 outcomes should include:

" encouragement of Convention Secretariats, Parties and funding institutions to
coordinate activities that synergistically progress the aims of all Rio
Conventions; and

" clarification of the Rio Conventions? roles in addressing broader issues of soil
and land degradation in the context of international environmental
governance.

Sustainable Energy

The centrality of energy to sustainable development has been recognised with the
launch of the United Nations Secretary-General?s Sustainable Energy for All
initiative. From job generation to economic competitiveness and prosperity, from
strengthening security to empowering women, energy is the common foundation,
and the basis for all modern economies. Access to secure, affordable, reliable and
sustainable energy is critical for fostering social and economic development and
improving livelihoods. Both the public and private sectors will have an important role
to play in realising outcomes from Rio+20 on sustainable energy.

Rio+20 outcomes should include:

" commitment to achieving universal energy access;

" commitment to reduce global energy intensity; and

" commitment to expand the proportion of renewable energy used in national
energy portfolios.

Sustainable Mining Practices

When managed properly, mining offers the opportunity to catalyse broad-based
economic development, reduce poverty and assist countries in meeting their
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Australia supports actions to ensure the
contribution of mining to sustainable development.

Rio+20 outcomes should include:

" ensuring mining is conducted under sound environmental management and
contributes to opportunities for economic and social development;

" promoting comprehensive legal and regulatory frameworks and policies to
facilitate sustainable mining practices and address the social and
environmental impacts of mining throughout its lifecycle, including post-mine
closure;

" recognising that open and transparent markets, as facilitated through the work
of bodies like the G20 and International Metals Study Groups, are an
important element of sustainable mining;

" encouraging the mining sector to adopt the Sustainable Development
Framework and associated 10 Principles of the International Council on
Mining and Metals;

" promoting the fair distribution of benefits from mining to the communities and
citizens of producing countries according to national, sub-national and local
sustainable development priorities;

" underlining the importance of transparency by governments and companies in
the extractive industries and the need to enhance public financial
management and accountability, as promoted by the Extractive Industries
Transparency Initiative; and

" enhancing linkages between mining and the rest of the economy to promote
income generation, strengthen revenue streams, increase job creation and
develop upstream and downstream industrial and service activities at the
local, sub-national and national levels.

Innovation, Research and Collaboration

Australia considers that investing in innovation is critical to respond to the problems
st
of the 21 century such as climate change, population growth, food security and
environmental sustainability. It is at the core of economic transformation and is an
important enabling factor for sustainable development. While market mechanisms
are key drivers of this change, they also need to be supplemented by appropriately
targeted transitional and innovative support measures. By working together countries
can leverage off common interests, specialisation and expertise to help foster and
spread innovations aimed at addressing these difficult challenges, while
simultaneously making better use of resources, spreading risk, and building local
capacity.

" promotion of participation and collaboration in international research and
innovation networks to support sustainable development, with a particular
focus on ?grass roots? innovation and the opportunities for growth through
increased transfer of developed economy best practice to developing
economies; and

" inclusion of innovation as an important component of the UN work program on
the ?green economy?, through the development of a set of innovation
principles, drawing on the United Nations Environment Programme?s (UNEP)
work on the ?green economy? and the work of the OECD on eco-innovation
and green growth. The innovation principles could:

o provide an overview of the key drivers of innovation;

o help to address barriers to improved collaboration, knowledge transfer
and commercialisation; and

o identify opportunities for countries to improve their innovative
performance.

Climate Change

The scientific evidence that the climate is changing is overwhelming and clear. We
already see the social, economic and environmental impacts of climate change.
Human activities, including the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, are
triggering the changes we are witnessing in the global climate.

Rio+20 will mark the twentieth anniversary of the treaty establishing the international
climate change regime, the UNFCCC. Following the 17 Conference of the Parties
to the UNFCCC in Durban in 2011, countries will be well-placed to identify the role
Rio+20 can play in advancing global climate action.

This is the critical decade. Decisions we make from now to 2020 will determine the
severity of the climate change our children and grandchildren experience. It is
essential to transition to low emission development pathways if the world is to tackle
climate change and achieve sustainable development.

Cross-Cutting Priorities

Finance for Sustainable Development

Australia recognises that developing countries, especially the poorest and most
vulnerable, need assistance to achieve sustainable development. Australia will
almost double its ODA between 2010-11 and 2015-16, to meet the Government?s
commitment of ODA reaching 0.5 per cent of GNI.

Global sustainable development will require large-scale, transformative investments.
In developing countries, this cannot be achieved by ODA alone and will require
leveraging private finance and investment in both developed and developing
economies.

The public sector and the use of public finance, including ODA, will have a key role
in providing enabling policy settings, regulations and incentives (such as innovative
market-based tools) to catalyse private finance in sustainable investments.

Rio+20 outcomes should include:

" support for innovative and market-based financial solutions from a range of
sources, including both public and private finance, to ensure that limited public
resources are invested to maximum effect in sustainable development:

o drawing on existing examples such as the G20?s work on infrastructure
investment in developing countries, lessons learned from the Green
Climate Fund design process and other relevant mechanisms;

o expanding the base of presently-available public finance by means of
ODA-backed bonds, such as the model used in the International
Finance Facility for Immunisation; and

o using public finance more flexibly and creatively to leverage private
capital through risk-sharing; and

" commitments to increase ODA to assist the poorest and most vulnerable, to
achieve sustainable development.

Measuring Sustainability and Environmental Accounting

Australia supports the development of robust mechanisms to collect, integrate and
analyse information. A credible information base, particularly for environmental
issues, is critical in this regard. The United Nations System of Environmental
Economic Accounting (SEEA), soon to be an international statistical standard, is
designed for this purpose, and Australia strongly supports its adoption.

Several international organisations and countries, including Australia, have
developed frameworks or systems of indicators that go beyond the scope of
traditional measures (such as Gross Domestic Product) to focus on broader
measures of economic, environmental and social progress.

In Australia, examples of relevant initiatives include the Measuring Sustainability
program, the Measures of Australia?s Progress series, the National Plan for
Environmental Information, and the development of a framework for the production
of national environmental-economic accounts.

Rio+20 outcomes should include:

" agreement to develop credible frameworks for measuring sustainable
development outcomes, including robust, consistent and accessible
economic, environmental and social information, which promotes the
integration of the information across these spheres;

" support for the SEEA as the international statistical framework for
environmental accounting; and

" expansion of the UNEP?s role as a ?hub? for environmental information
sharing.

Sustainable Development Goals

Australia supports creating a set of internationally agreed Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) as a means to drive international efforts on sustainable development.
In doing so, the relationship between the proposed SDGs and the MDGs framework
would need to be carefully considered. SDGs will help ensure that Rio+20 initiates
an ambitious agenda with milestones, measurement tools and support for the
practical implementation of sustainable development commitments at all levels.

Australia supports the use of market mechanisms to ensure the environmental costs
of production (externalities) are accurately reflected in the prices of products and
services. For example, in countries without carbon pricing fossil fuel prices do not
incorporate the cost of the negative externalities associated with the production and
burning of such fuels. Putting a price on carbon through taxes, regulation or
emissions trading systems can be an effective tool for securing emissions reduction
at least possible cost.

In many countries the lack of pricing of externalities is further exacerbated by
inefficient Subsidies for certain sectors of the economy - particularly agriculture,
energy, and fisheries. The current global context, in which many governments are
experiencing fiscal constraints, provides an opportunity to reduce, or phase out,
these inefficient Subsidies. This should be accompanied by appropriate measures
that protect vulnerable people from the negative impacts of any reform that may be
undertaken.

Rio+20 outcomes should include:

" encouraging governments to set price signals that value sustainability - to
drive structural change and move production and investment into more
sustainable activities.

Empowering Women to achieve Sustainable Development

Australia supports efforts to promote gender equality and empower women. This
challenge is central to sustainable economic and human development and to
supporting women?s rights. As long as the full potential of women to contribute to our
economies and communities remains untapped, the debate and action around
economic and environmental issues is skewed.

Women?s participation in sustainable development is crucial to both the economic
and social dimensions of sustainable development. Women face barriers to their full
participation in economic, social and political life. Addressing these barriers is critical
to reducing poverty, enhancing economic growth and democratic governance and
increasing the well-being of whole communities. These barriers persist despite the
evidence from both developed and developing economies that the increased
participation of women generates faster and more equitable income growth.

The World Bank has found that eliminating discriminatory practices could increase
productivity by up to 40 per cent. Governments should take up the opportunity of
greater sustainable economic growth through enhanced female participation in the
workforce by accelerating implementation of international commitments to advance
gender equality and women?s rights. This should include a particular emphasis on
land and property rights; access to education and training; access to capital; sexual
and reproductive health; freedom from gender-based violence; and full participation
in economic and political decision-making.

Rio+20 outcomes should include:

" measures to reinforce the economic and social justice imperatives for
women?s participation in sustainable development;

" commitment by governments and the private sector to support women?s
economic participation and empowerment, including through adoption of the
United Nations Women?s Empowerment Principles;

" commitment to greater access to financial and technical support for women,
including microfinance and technical assistance in agriculture,

o as part of this, commitment to increase significantly the global scope of
Women?s World Banking and related mainstream micro-finance
initiatives;

" commitment to mainstream the role of women in agriculture and rural women
in economic development in all new policy initiatives relating to food security,
recognising that women make up the bulk of the total agricultural workforce;

" reinforcement of the importance of considering the needs of both women and
men in the provision of emergency assistance and social protection for the
most vulnerable;

" commitment to ensure that water reforms recognise women?s role in water
management in many countries; and

" commitment to ensure the framework for measuring sustainable development
outcomes measures the impacts on both men and women.

Education and Training: Empowering Youth

MDG 2 aims to achieve universal primary education by 2015. A good quality primary
education is essential for developing literacy and numeracy skills and is a basis for
further learning. There is irrefutable evidence that education, especially for girls, is
one of the best investments in development. More than 170 million people could be
lifted out of poverty if all students in low-income countries left school with basic
reading skills; this is equivalent to a 12 per cent cut in global poverty.

There are some obvious reform priorities. The global education funding gap is
US$16 billion, yet the current architecture of global education bodies lacks an
organisation of sufficient scale and scope to tackle this challenge.

Both the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the Global
Alliance on Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) can teach us a lot about how to get a
better result for global education. They show us that if we work creatively we can
leverage private funds, the value of which far exceeds global overseas aid flows. The
time has come for a public/private institution with an explicit mandate for school
education.

A global fund for school education which is effective and well capitalised would
consolidate efforts by development partners and harness the resources of the private
sector and the wider community.

The global effort to meet MDG 2 will also provide a foundation for the international
uptake of education and skills for sustainability, particularly through vocational
education and training. Skills for sustainability will be instrumental in driving and
supporting the global transition to sustainable development and innovative, low
pollution and resource-efficient economies.

Rio+20 outcomes should include:

" commitment to building the Global Partnership for Education into an effective
and well capitalised global fund for education that can harness the resources
of the private sector and assist developing countries to achieve MDG 2 by
2015; and

" commitment to ensuring all young men and women are able to access a
vocational education and training sector that is high quality, flexible and
responsive to labour market needs, recognising that the transition to new
sustainable industries will create strong demand for new skills and the need
for Governments to facilitate the skilling up of workers for these emerging
sectors.

Communications and Information Technology

Modern communication technologies are critical to social and economic prosperity
and enhance sustainability on several fronts. They enable rapid access to weather
forecasts, enhancing food security and early disaster warning information. In remote
regions, mobile technology can give users access to information and services such
as finance, health and education, and can connect small and micro enterprises to the
larger market. Australia supports universal access to modern telecommunication
services.

Rio+20 outcomes should include:

" emphasis on the need to ensure universal access to modern communication
technology to facilitate access to information.

Nineteenth Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development

Australia was disappointed at the failure of the Nineteenth Session of the
Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD19) to adopt a consensus, including
text on a Ten Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and
Production.

Rio+20 outcomes should include:

" incorporation of the key draft elements from CSD19, and in particular the
Sustainable Consumption and Production text.

?The Institutional Framework for Sustainable
Development?

Australia supports reforms of ?the institutional framework for sustainable
development? (?IFSD?). Strong, effective institutions are essential if we are to drive
global sustainable development. The two UN institutions that cover all three pillars of
sustainable development - the United Nations Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC) and its subsidiary body the United Nations Commission on Sustainable
Development (CSD) - have had limited success in providing coherent governance
on sustainable development issues across the UN system.

Reform of ?the IFSD? should achieve a number of objectives in order to be effective.
Rio+20 ?IFSD? outcomes should seek to integrate the three pillars of sustainable
development in UN decision-making and strengthen the environmental pillar of
sustainable development to reflect the equal importance of all three pillars. Reforms
should minimise institutional proliferation, streamline resource utilisation and improve
coordination and coherence between agencies, including joint program-delivery at a
country level, while respecting the mandates of multilateral environment agreements
and the autonomy of their decision-making bodies.

Reforms should also strengthen links between the UN and International Financial
Institutions, the private sector, academia, non-governmental organisations and other
stakeholders. ?IFSD? outcomes should facilitate and enable the implementation of
outcomes agreed under the ?green economy? theme of Rio+20. Finally, it will be
important for a reformed ?IFSD? to provide high-level political participation,
coordinated governance and strategic direction across the UN system, with heads of
UN agencies and from Member States.

Rio+20 outcomes should include:

" strengthening UNEP, including:

o consideration of expanding it to universal membership;

o strengthening its governance structures; and

o strengthening its role in relation to the science-policy interface;

" development of a UN system-wide strategy for the environment to be
progressed through existing mechanisms such as the Chief Executive Board
and the United Nations Development Group;

" a mechanism for promoting sharing of experience among countries and
enhanced transparency about national sustainable development efforts;

" transformation of the CSD into a significantly more effective organisation with
an enhanced capacity to drive integration of the three sustainable
development pillars (for example, a Sustainable Development Council); and

" consideration of how ECOSOC can better perform its role as the primary high-
level decision-making body for all three pillars of sustainable development and
how it would relate to other IFSD reforms.

Conclusion

Rio+20 presents a global opportunity to recognise past progress on sustainable
development and, more importantly, to set the sustainable development agenda for
the next 20 years.

Australia welcomes the opportunity to work with other countries to share our
expertise and contribute to regional and global initiatives. Australia looks forward to
maximising this unique opportunity to set the stage for a common sustainable future
for the next 20 years - to Rio+40 and beyond.